Leaders gather to discuss Union flag violence
A special meeting drawing together unionist and loyalist representatives to discuss the Union flag row has started at Stormont.
The Unionist Forum at Parliament Buildings is being chaired by Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson and Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt.
The meeting was convened in response to the controversy sparked by Belfast City Council’s decision to limit the number of days the flag flies over City Hall.
Loyalists have held protests across the North in the six weeks since, with a number ending in violence.
East Belfast has seen the worst of the disorder, with six successive nights of rioting so far in this year.
Scores of police officers have been injured and more than 100 people arrested.
Mr Robinson and Mr Nesbitt said the forum could provide a political alternative to street protests and enable loyalists and unionists to discuss a range of issues concerning them.
Representatives of the loyal orders, loyalist paramilitary groups and community leaders were among those who arrived at the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the meeting.
